Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have a few comments to make, and a few questions.
First of all, a comment I've heard today is that when we've heard comments, they might have come from industry. I'd just add that the comments I've been getting, the concerns over CDR, have not been coming just from the pharmaceutical industry; they have been from patients and from physicians I know in my own riding, and we've had individuals come up and tell their personal stories about some of the challenges they have faced with the process. We've had numerous deputations from various charitable groups that are raising funds and representing individuals who have various illnesses within Canada. There has certainly been a wide variety.
The one I found the most moving was a presentation by, I think, the Canadian Cancer Society about kidney cancer and some of the challenges they've had with the CDR. We are hearing a wide variety of opinions, and that's one of the tough things to reconcile. People have completely different images of the usefulness of CDR.
One thing I heard from previous proponents of the CDR is that one of the reasons it was created was to bring national standards to the drug approval process in Canada and get more commonality amongst the provincial drug plans. I asked that question. I asked if that has changed today, if we have that commonality, if we have those national standards. I wasn't satisfied with the answer, so I'd look for some comments on that today. If the purpose of this several years ago was to bring about that commonality, why do we have provincial drug plans completely ignoring what CDR is saying? Why do we see cancer drugs at the national level rejected by CDR and approved, for example, in British Columbia or Ontario? That is perplexing.
There is another question I wanted to throw out there. I haven't posed it from this perspective. We always talk about patient access. Prior to the CDR, how did this process hurt patients? How is the system better today than it was before? Can you tell this committee that Canada's health care system, its drug approval process, is serving patients better today than it was when this was created several years ago?
Could I please get comments from any of you three who would like to offer a perspective.